Adding & Dropping Courses

ADDING COURSES

You can add courses to your schedule through the first seven days of each quarter.

After that, you must get approval from the instructor of each course you wish to add by having him/her sign a Drop/Add Form . If you're an undergraduate student, you may also need your adviser's signature. See our list of contacts for required signatures.

Return your completed form to the Office of the Registrar in University Hall.

Review your existing credits and course load ; if by adding the course you'd be enrolled in more than 18 credits, you must also get overload approval.

You cannot, under any circumstances, add a course after the eighth week of the quarter (the last 10 business days).

DROPPING COURSES

Official drop periods (for quarterly courses):

Courses dropped through the first five business seven days of a quarter (Monday – Friday, summer session excluded) are deleted from your record. We'll reverse tuition charges through this time period, if applicable.

We'll assign a withdrawal (W) notation on your record for courses you officially drop after the first week of the quarter. A "W" on your record means you have not earned the course's credit hours, and we don't calculate the (W) notation in the GPA. You may drop a course without instructor approval through the end of the sixth week of a quarter.

View withdrawal deadlines and tuition refund schedules .

Administrative withdrawal from a canceled course

If a course is canceled, we'll delete it from your record and reverse tuition charges, if appropriate. The department, college or school responsible for canceling the course will notify you of the change.

Student responsibility

With the exception of administrative withdrawals, if you don't officially drop a course, you'll receive a failing grade (F). If you stop attending a course, you'll remain enrolled in it unless you officially drop it through the Office of the Registrar. If you drop a course after the end of the sixth week of the quarter, you must get the instructor's approval—and his or her signature on a Drop/Add Form—to complete the withdrawal process. We won't process withdrawal requests without these required approvals, and as a result, you'll earn a failing (F) grade for the course. You're also responsible for paying all tuition and charges related to the course.

Mandated withdrawal resulting from non-attendance

Each instructor determines the attendance policy for his or her class. If you fail to attend the first week of classes (or equivalent number of business days) and haven't confirmed absences with your instructor in advance, you may be required to drop the course.

If your instructor mandates that you drop the course, you must start the official withdrawal process, via the Office of the Registrar. If you choose not to drop after being asked to do so, you'll earn a failing grade (F). If you've been asked to leave a class due to non-attendance, you must pay all course tuition and fees accumulated at the time of your withdrawal—or the entire cost of the course, should you fail to withdraw.

Academic dishonesty

If you're suspected of academic dishonesty, we may prevent you from dropping a course—or reinstate a course from which you've already withdrawn. Note: The Office of the Registrar does not have to notify you of the reinstatement.

If after hearing your case the Office of Student Conduct rules that you've been academically dishonest, your instructor may assign you a failing grade (F) for the course in question. We'll also retract any (W) notation, if you officially withdrew from the course.

If you're found innocent and had tried to officially drop the course during the automatic withdrawal period, we'll process your request and assign a (W) to your record.

Drops with approval

If you're failing a course, your instructor may deny your request to drop it. You must have instructor approval to drop a course after the sixth week of the quarter.

Drop deadlines and exceptions

You cannot withdraw from a course in the two weeks—or 10 business days—preceding its final examination. View other important registration and billing dates.

If you're a graduate student in this same position, you must appeal through the Office of Graduate Studies by following our graduate student instructions for submitting a petition for academic exception (PDF) . Check with your program, school or college for additional procedures for late drops. Approvals to drop courses are academic decisions; they don't automatically entitle you to tuition and fee reimbursement for the dropped course. See the process for tuition refund appeal for financial appeal information.

Five-week courses and workshops, as well as courses offered during interterm, summer session and semester (Sturm College of Law) might have different deadlines.

Contact Us

Office of the RegistrarUniversity of Denver2197 S. University Blvd.Denver, CO 80208Phone: 303-871-4095Fax: 303-871-4300registrar@du.edu